Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.
With his partner, artist Jack Kirby, he co-created Captain America, one of comics' most enduring superheroes, and the team worked extensively on such features at DC Comics as the 1940s Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy, and co-created the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter. Simon & Kirby creations for other comics publishers include Boys' Ranch, Fighting American and the Fly. In the late 1940s, the duo created the field of romance comics, and were among the earliest pioneers of horror comics. Simon, who went on to work in advertising and commercial art, also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, remaining with it for a decade. He briefly returned to DC Comics in the 1970s.
Cleopatra Jones is a 1973 blaxploitation action film starring Tamara Dobson.
Cleopatra "Cleo" Jones (Dobson) is a strikingly beautiful black model with an array of flamboyant outfits. Modeling, however, is only a cover for her real job as a secret government agent. Cleo is a Bond-like heroine with power and influence; an object of awe for her flashy wardrobe, her ’73 silver and black Corvette Stingray (equipped with automatic weapons) and her martial arts ability. While she evokes the glory of a funk goddess, she remains loyal to her drug-ravaged community and her lover, Reuben Masters, who runs B&S House (a halfway home for recovering drug addicts).
The film opens with Cleo overseeing the destruction of a poppy field in Turkey belonging to the evil drug lord, Mommy (Shelley Winters). Mommy is a white lesbian with an all-male crew and a bevy of beautiful young women catering to her many wants. She is short, stout, and wears unfashionable clothes, fulfilling the role of "anti-Cleopatra" in every respect. When she hears about her poppies' demise, she plots revenge, hiring the corrupt policeman, Officer Purdy to raid the B&S House.
Lynda Cheryl Smith (born March 11, 1957), known better by her professional name Cheryl Lynn, is a female African-American disco, R&B and soul singer known best for her 1978 disco song, "Got to Be Real".
Lynn's singing career began when she was a young girl with her church choir. However, her professional singing career started during 1976 when she obtained a job as a backing vocalist for the national touring company of the musical drama The Wiz. Eventually she would obtain the role of Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, during the six month national tour.
Prior to her appearance on The Wiz, Cheryl taped an episode of the Gong Show during the early part of 1976. She won the competition while singing Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful". After the episode was broadcast, during the autumn of 1976, record industry executives were calling to contract her.
After her performance on The Gong Show, Ahmed Ertegun of Atlantic Records company couldn't come to an initial meeting with Lynn, with the result that she was contracted with Columbia Records company. Lynn released her first and best-known song, "Got to Be Real," which was composed by keyboardist David Paich (of the band Toto), David Foster and Lynn. The song scored #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart and #1 on the Rhythm & Blues chart. The success of the single album prompted a full scale debut album. Named Cheryl Lynn, it was produced by Paich. The album sold more than a million copies and scored #5 on Billboard magazine's R&B albums chart and #23 on Billboard's top 200 album charts. The next single album, "Star Love"', also became a success.
Plot
A recording contract: It's the brass ring for every rock band. And now Beyond Gravity, a group fronted by charismatic singer-songwriter-guitarist Lance and his hard-living younger brother Mike, and managed by their boyhood pal Ben, have finally grabbed theirs. It promises to be everything the three guys have worked for since high school, and when they leave their hometown of Austin, Texas to record for Los Angeles indie label Rage Records, Lance vows to his wife--Beyond Gravity's beautiful bass player Chelsea--to stay focused on the things that really matter: "It's all about the music. We're not gonna let anything screw it up." After almost a year of rehearsing and recording, however, there's still no release, no tour, no video. Part of the delay is due to Mike's growing substance addictions and subsequent stretches in rehab. Rage Records president Jerry Tollman tells Ben he's reluctant to spend more money on the band when it can all go south in a flash. When Mike is busted for heroin possession, he's given one last chance to clean up his act, or he's out of the band. But the issue becomes academic when Mike is found dead of an overdose. Chelsea quits Beyond Gravity to stay at home with their young son, and Lance regroups with new band members, but the chemistry is lost. And as the ambitious Ben begins to succumb to the temptations of power and money by trying to parlay his success with the band into bigger deals, Lance starts to question whether the price of fame is worth losing the woman he loves--as well as the brother whose mysterious death has left many unanswered questions.
Keywords: abortion, deceit, drug-overdose, heroin-addict, husband-wife-relationship, manager, mansion, murder, music-industry, music-producer